Devil Amongst the Trees

He had always loved the woods growing up. It's where many of his favorite memories had been made. He'd run through the pine barrens after his friends, playing tag, giggling, breathing hard. Sometimes it was hide and seek. Other times Cowboys and Indians. He and his friends were always allowed to play alone amongst the trees. From his backyard his parents could see endlessly. The trees were spread apart enough to see deep into the woods - deeper than he knew he should go.

But today, he had wondered much further than he knew he was allowed to - out of sight, well beyond the far spread trees, to where the pine barrens began to close in, swallowing the sunlight from above and silencing the word beyond their bark.

His friends from school has said there was something in the woods. He of course didn't believe them. They had said it was something not from this world, from below the ground, something that could take your soul. He knew they were lying, but they insisted they weren't - that they had heard stories of lost dogs, and sightings of whatever it was by adults. There was even a rumor that it smelled of burning wood.

He had decided today was the day he was going to look for it - to prove to his friend's there was no "Jersey Devil." It was just some stupid rumor, born from someone's imagination. He had heard of heaven and hell, god and the devil, but he couldn't believe any of it. It just sounded silly.

As he wondered down the path, he noticed the light seemed to fade and the rain began to lighten - not because the storm overhead was passing, but because the trees were much closer to one another. The forest wasn't wide open - now it felt claustrophobic. It didn't help that he couldn't hear anything either. It wasn't that his ears were blocked, but there was no sound, to anything.


When he realized this, he stopped. He didn't like this. As he began to turn around, he heard a twig snap behind him. He held his breath, not wanting to turn around. There was another snap, closer to him. Holding his eyes shut he turned around and he heard a voice, "hello there child."

Opening his eyes, a man stood before him, in a trim black suit. His head was vacant of hair and his eyes almost appeared yellow.

"What are you doing way out here young man? Aren't you a little far from home?"

Looking down at the man's feet, that's when he noticed his lack of shoes and that each foot was coated in a smoking black substance that looked like tar.

Before he could look up, the man was within a few inches of him.

"Do your parent's know where you are?"

That's when the man's breath lingered down to his nose - it smelt like smoldering ashes, like the forest fire that had torn through the pine barrens a couple years ago.

Without hesitating, the boy turned around and began running as fast as his little legs could carry him. He knew the devil wasn't far behind him, he could feel him, even if he couldn't hear his bare feet as they landed o the pine needles littering the ground.

The boy jumped logs, rocks, ran through trees, cutting his face up.

He could feel the hot breath on the back of his neck.

The boy could see the end of the forrest up ahead. His lungs were burning, but he kept pushing forward, until he felt a hand clasped down on his shoulder. Without turning he flailed his arm, broke free, and burst out of the woods into his back yard.

He yelled for his parents as he neared the porch. His mom ran out to comfort him, fear on her face.

"Where is God's name have you been?!"

She kneeled beside him hugging him.

"We were so worried about you! Wait...what happened to your coat?"

A piece of cloth, the size of a hand was burnt out of the shoulder of the boy's coat. When the boy saw it - he swore he heard a cackle echoing from deep within the woods.